In this article, we will look at the beginning and introduction of a good presentation in English. Also, we will focus on connecting words and ways to keep your presentation moving. Finally, we will concentrate on bringing your presentation to a confident and professional conclusion.
How to begin a good presentation in English
Smile, look into the eyes of as many of your audience as possible and speak slowly - "Hello everyone, good morning and welcome. Thanks for coming."
Your presentation is off to a good start. Starting slowly, engaging in eye contact and being able to say your first few sentences without looking at notes, will help relax you and make your audience feel comfortable. Let's keep going.
A good presentation is well-structured and properly practised. You can have notes to look at occasionally, but if you want to give a professional impression, then the best advice I can give you is don't read them word for word. Glance at them now and again but give your introduction without reading it from a page.
A good structure is simple - in the introduction, introduce yourself and your topic.
After you have welcomed your audience, introduce yourself - and think about how peculiar it would look if you had to look down at your notes and read your name.
The choice of words for introducing yourself is wider than you might think. If you don't know anyone in the audience, then you can say, "My name is Winnie Chan and I am the marketing manager for International Partners".
If you know some of the audience you could change that to, "As some of you know I am Winnie Chan ..." And, if you know most of the audience then you can say, "As most of you already know I'm Winnie Chan".
How to introduce your presentation topic
A good introduction is clear and structured. So once you have told the audience who you are, you need to tell them what you are going to talk about. For this purpose, let's say your topic is the rise in popularity of shopping online. If your presentation isn't too formal then you could say, "The topic of my talk today is shopping online and I am going to discuss some of the reasons why it has become so popular." Alternatively, if your audience is more formal and less relaxed, you could use the following: "The title of my presentation is The Rise in Popularity of Shopping Online and I will give you some background about this trend in retail."
The next thing to do is explain when you will be happy to answer questions. So this is when you can say, "I hope you enjoy my presentation and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me them at the end."
Alternatively, "I trust you will find what I have to say useful and relevant. There will be a Q&A session at the end so please hold on to any questions you may have until then."
It's now important to signal that your introduction is at an end and you are about to begin the main part of your presentation. If you are using a microphone, at this point you can check that it's working properly by saying, "Can I just double check everyone can hear me okay? And then you can continue, "Well if everyone is comfortable [or ready] then I'll begin."
A strong ending is worth remembering
Last, but by no means least because the end of a presentation is crucial. No matter how long or short your talk was, or how fantastic everything you had said was, it is inevitable that your audience will go away remembering the last few seconds. So you must finish your presentation with strong and easily understood language.
Consider using a strong and powerful visual aid at the end of your presentation. Try to summarise what you want your audience to go away with on one colourful but simple visual which will stay with them.
Don't say, "I am now going to summarise what I have just been talking about." Say, "Right, so that was the long version - here's the only thing you have to focus on ..." Because if you can't summarise your presentation in one sentence, your audience won't remember it all. Try to focus on the one main thing you want them to go away with.
Don't say, "Thank you for your attention. It was nice to meet you all and I hope you liked my presentation." Consider saying, "I hope you've learned something new today and if you have questions, please feel free to ask me now. Otherwise, I am available and happy to discuss anything I have said with you ..."
Remember, don't repeat the same verbs, keep your structure simple and easy to follow and make sure you can close your talk with one punchy sentence which is all you want your audience to remember.
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